How to Become a Certified Professional Collector ® or Certified Professional Collector Trainer®

What is the Collector Training Course?

General industry consensus has determined the need for a program providing collection personnel with the training to become proficient in DOT and federal urine specimen collections for drug testing in the workplace. Such a program will aim to ensure that the collection is performed in a professional and consistent manner, maintaining confidentiality for the donor and security, integrity, and control of the specimen.

The diversity of collection sites and employer needs require that a program used to train and certify collection personnel be adaptable to fit the specific requirements of each facility or company and provide consistency and competency throughout the industry. For this reason, the DATIA Certified Professional Collector® Program was designed to prevent facilities or companies from having to bear the time and expense of sending all of their collection personnel to be trained in-person at a DATIA administered training course.

The Certified Professional Collector Trainer® (CPCT) course (along with the mock collections required by the DOT) meets the DOT requirements for collector qualification training and enables participants to serve as monitors of proficiency demonstrations for fellow collectors. This course provides participants with sufficient resources and teaching tools so that they can develop a program and effectively train their collection personnel for DATIA certification.

You can also receive training via our online Certified Professional Collector® (CPC) course where you get the same training but it is not a train-the-trainer course. See more information below.

Program Goals

The objective of the Certified Professional Collector Trainer® (CPCT) program is to provide instruction and resource material to enable the trainer to develop and teach a collector training program that will deliver information to fellow company-employed collection personnel, helping them become proficient in providing collection services according to industry regulations and standards, that ensure the privacy, integrity, and security of the donor and the specimen.

The goal of the Certified Professional Collector® (CPC) course is to train you on how to collect urine specimens for drug testing in accordance with DATIA standards, which are derived from Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandatory Guidelines, and industry best practices.

Collector Certification Categories

DATIA offers two levels of certification for specimen collectors, the Certified Professional Collector® (CPC) and the Certified Professional Collector Trainer® (CPCT). Both certifications provide comprehensive instruction and proficiency testing on the key elements and skills necessary to perform specimen collections in a manner that ensures the security of the specimen and the privacy of the donor. Certification as a CPCT requires additional experience and training in both specimen collections and the aspects of providing comprehensive training to fellow collectors.

Certification Requirements

CPCT:

Currently employed in a position with active participation in collection services

Please Note: DATIA training fees do NOT include the Initial Proficiency Demonstrations, also known as the “5 mock collections,” a DOT requirement for collector training, and, therefore a DATIA requirement for CPC/CPCT certification. You will need to do these on your own before getting access to DATIA’s certification exam. You may complete the mock collections with ANY collector who has been doing DOT collections for at least a year, OR who has taken a Train-the-Trainer course in DOT collections. (See 49 CFR Part 40.33 – What Training Requirements Must a Collector Meet?)

CPCT Training Courseis held regionally approximately three times a year, in the spring and fall months. The fee for the CPCT Training Course is $379 for DATIA Members and $479 for non-members.